Let me share a secret with you...
Yes, it's true!
If you get to grips with this fact, it’s an empowering feeling.
The truth is that success and happiness are 100% within your control. Think about it... YOU get to decide what makes you happy. YOU get to decide what "successful" means to you.
It's pointless tying those things in your mind to external factors that you can't control or to values that are important to other people rather than to you.
Here's a quick story related to this... When I was a consultant at one of the "big five" accounting firms years ago, the partners ran a project to find out why they had so few female partners in the firm. After weeks of surveys and focus groups they finally learned the truth.
Most women didn't see becoming a partner as the ultimate in success! The typical partner in that firm was working too many hours every week, arriving in the office at 6am every day, travelling away from home for client projects, etc. The women, me included, didn't want that kind of life for themselves, their partners, their families. We had different values, different definitions of success!
When you fail, it’s easy to blame other people or external factors. But when you acknowledge the idea that you are in control, it means you can’t make excuses.
So our #1 message for this brand new decade is to take responsibility and own your situation and actions. For instance...
If you don’t like your work (or your boss), then quit, get some different customers, start a different type of business...
If your family distract you too much sometimes, then sit down with them and negotiate some family rules...
Need more skills? - sign up for a course or hire a virtual assistant who is an expert...
Don’t have enough time? Plan better, say "no" more often, cut back on Netflix, wake up an hour earlier, do what it takes give yourself more time...
And if you need more money, build your list, get offers in front of people more often, get a side hustle, stop spending so much...
Sometimes it might be easier said than done, but the reality is that you do have a choice.
And when you acknowledge that your happiness and success are 100% within your control, you can make progress on the things that matter - and on feeling happier.
So if you want to succeed this year, start now - take responsibility and remember that you are 100% in control this year and beyond.
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